285 Drums Vanish: BCC Rocked by US$82K Depot Theft Scandal
BULAWAYO – A fresh wave of outrage has hit the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) after 285 drums of bitumen and other vital road maintenance materials, valued at over US$82,000, were reported stolen from the local authority’s Kelvin North Depot.
The theft, reported to Western Commonage Police Station on 6 June 2025, has sparked calls for disciplinary action and institutional reform from city councillors.
The missing consignment includes nine drums of Stable 60 (worth US$2,142) and 20 drums of MC30 (valued at US$6,480). Bitumen is priced at US$1.45 per litre, while Stable 60 and MC30 are valued at US$1.19 and US$1.62 per litre, respectively.
The stolen materials are essential to road resurfacing projects at a time when residents are demanding upgrades to the city’s deteriorating infrastructure.
During a full council meeting last week, Deputy Mayor Clr Edwin Ndlovu condemned the situation, calling it a serious failure of oversight.
“We lack supervision and daily monitoring. 285 drums of tar missing is not child’s play, we are talking of our roads, which are dilapidated. We should not take it behind closed doors. This is a public concern, and these are public funds we are talking about,” he said.
Councillor Melissa Mabeza, elected under the proportional representation quota, described the incident as “blatant corruption” and demanded immediate investigation into the Department of Works.
“We cannot have an entire institution like BCC without proper systems, given the numerous cases of corruption we have had. We cannot have all these drums going missing, clearly, this has been happening for quite a long time. There is something wrong within this department and something has to be done,” she said.
According to The Herald, both the chamber secretary and the audit team have submitted reports on the matter.
The finance department, responsible for fuel acquisition, has implemented new control measures and directed staff to comply with the updated protocols.
“The chamber secretary advised that the acquisition of fuel was under the financial services, which advised that new measures had been placed and the relevant staff members had been notified to adhere to the new measures,” reads part of the council report.
This theft follows a similar incident at the same depot. Last month, senior ambulance services supervisor Peter Dube (57) was dismissed after being found guilty of misappropriating 6,978 litres of diesel, worth US$10,187.88.
Dube faced four disciplinary charges: misappropriation, incompetence, missing vehicle logbooks, and tampering with a service vehicle’s speedometer.
He was dismissed on two counts and issued a final written warning on the other two.
Investigations revealed that Dube had refuelled a council-issued Toyota Land Cruiser at Khami Stores, drained the diesel, then claimed at Famona Depot that the vehicle hadn’t been filled.
Misled junior staff authorised a second refill. The scam was uncovered through audits, logbooks, and interviews with fuel attendants.
Following the two major thefts, the audit team has raised alarm over serious vulnerabilities in the council’s inventory and procurement systems.
Councillors are now pushing for an independent forensic audit, strengthened supervision, and full accountability.
As critical materials vanish and roads continue to deteriorate, residents are growing increasingly frustrated—demanding action and transparency from city officials.
